The Assault on Cayona
by The Master of Heroes
Summary: On a patrol mission, a group of GEAR soldiers discovers a secret operation by the strange creatures Sonic and the gang encountered in the cave. Now it's up to them to stop this plan dead in it's tracks. Yet on this mission, they will discover that the events in the cave are much more than they ever imagined, and the arrival of a new enemy will complicate things even further...
1. The Early Bird

Series 1: Heroes of Luxia

Episode 2: The Assault on Cayona

**Hey, what's up everybody! This is Master of Heroes bringing you the second installment in the adventures of our heroes! Again, sorry for the long wait (for the 3 people who actually enjoy these ), yet never fear! I will always come back, until the story is told. So without further ado, let's meet some new characters, shall we? -MH**

The sun beat down on the dry surface of the planet. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but an endless expanse of sandy, arid lands. The only respite was an occasional breeze as it traveled across the windswept terrain.

Across the planet ran several canyons, stretching like scars on the surface of the planet. Their shade and depth helped to provide a small rest in the otherwise blistering planet.

Here, in a small cavity inside one of the walls, a figure in dark armor stood out amongst the barren walls. However, the way the sunlight bounced off some walls, and the darkening background effect it created in the small cavity, helped keep the figure incredibly well camouflaged. The figure stood silent as stone, intently peering through the scope of the rifle it held. The elongated rifle featured a powerful scope that allowed him to see incredibly far. He adjusted the zoom of said scope, scanning the skies. For a long period, he did nothing but look back and forth across the sky. After a period of quiet, there was a _whoosh_ing sound overhead, and he aimed the rifle in time to see a fighter jet tear across the sky with its forward-swept wings.

"There we go...," he said softly, finally lowering the rifle. "Alright, Scott, let's go."

Next to the figure rested another, leaning back against the walls of their cavity. He groaned as the first figure nudged his black armor with the rifle. On their shoulder pads, each had the green-blue planet emblem of GEAR. He continued to complain as he stood up, dusting off his armor. He had been peacefully resting while his fellow trooper kept lookout. He sighed

"How come we always get stuck with these boring missions?" he whined.

"What are you complaining about? We've had nothing to do at base, they send us on a simple patrol, and you're whining about it?" the first figure asked incredulously.

"Mike, they sent us on a patrol to the _other side of the planet_. At six in the morning!" Scott complained.

"Scotty, it's as bright and hot as noon," Mike reminded him.

"Yeah, that helps," Scott mumbled sarcastically.

"Cheer up. This is our last sector," Mike reminded him as they exited the cavity. They trudged along the side of the canyon until they came to an area with less steeper walls and more rocks to stand on and grab hold of.

"Race ya down!" Mike yelled as he jumped down.

"You're on!" Scott replied, happy to have something to do. He quickly followed.

The duo slid down the walls, jumping and swerving to avoid rocks. Crouching lower, Scott gained speed until he triumphantly rolled down into the base of the canyon. Mike tried to land on a ledge, but as soon as he touched ground, the ledge shook violently, then collapsed.

"Whoa!" Mike exclaimed as he fell. Scott rolled to a side to avoid the debris, and when the dust cleared, he looked up. There, sitting among a pile of rocks was Mike, uninjured thanks to his armor.

"You alright, Mikey?" Scott asked him, holding out a hand and helping to pull him up.

"I'm fine, Scotty," Mike told him. The trooper stood up and dusted himself off before leaning down to pick up his rifle. As he picked it up and moved back up, he looked at the piece of the canyon that had given away and saw something that surprised him.

"Hey, look at this!" Mike told Scott. His fellow trooper looked at what he was pointing and noticed the same thing. There between the rock walls, was an exposed part of a pipe.

"Well, I'll be. What's a pipe doing here?" Scott asked.

"I'm not sure. Nobody lives near here, and the inhabitants of this planet don't really use plumbing," Mike remarked. He pulled out a small portable blowtorch, and cut a hole in the side of the pipe. Removing the piece, he looked in and saw not water, but wires.

"Electrical wires!" Mike realized. " Well then, this is not normal. People on this planet hardly ever use electricity."

"You think someone's near here?" Scott said, looking around nervously as he lifted his own rifle.

"Or something," Mike thought aloud. "Come on, let's go! The wires seem to be running this way!". He pointed to their right.

The duo continued their trek along the canyon floor until they came to a completely barren clearing.

"Let's keep going. We'll get a better view up top," Mike told him.

The two continued along into the canyon, then found a suitable point from where to once more climb up. They decided to travel by a ledge that seemed to stretch along the wall forever. As they progressed, they noticed things began to get quieter. This made Scott restless, and he began to jog ahead. He turned a corner only to bumb into a Stormer. The mech glared at him and smacked him with his arm, knocking him down and sending his rifle flying. He tried to grab his pistol, but by this time the mech had already taken aim at him. Before it could fire, though, there was a loud _crack_ sound, and the bot fell back, a bullet ledged deep into it's core processor. Scott turned around to see Mike a couple of meters behind, crouched and looking up from the rifle's scope.

"Nice shot," Scott commented as he got up.

"Thanks," Mike smiled. "There may be more. Careful."

They both did so, and continued their journey until they came to the edge of the ledge, which overlooked a large clearing. Mike pulled out his binoculars and focused his view. He gasped. Scott followed his example and looked down, also gasping.

Down below was a massive complex of solar panels, and power plants. The panels were huge, and Mike counted dozens and dozens of them. Amongst the panels were also tall, silver buildings, looking technologically advanced and equipped with a strong armor. Perhaps most worrying was not the structure in itself, but the fact that around the complex were various of the strange half-mechanical, half-living creatures that had been attacking the GEAR-controlled planets recently. Very few troopers had survived to tell the tale of them. It appeared that they were not the only ones, however. Various of the smaller, wolfish creatures were there as well. Not only that, but the taller creatures were directing groups of Stormers, the white robots with yellow stripes that formedthe bulk of the invading force. One of the tall creatures stood atop a miniature podium and began pointing and signaling to a group of Stormers with it's blade arm. It spoke in a strange mechanical beeping, muffled buzzing, and near human sounds. The Stormers nodded, and went off to perform their various tasks.

"Well, well, well," Mike said, slightly breathlessly, "what do we have here?"

"I can't believe it," Scott commented. "How have our aerial patrols and satellites never detected this before?"

Mike looked thoughtful for a moment, scanning the area. He looked upwards and grunted.

"There."

Scott looked up for a moment and felt extreme vertigo. Above him was what appeared to be another canyon clearing, this one empty. It was when he looked around and saw that there were small machined around them in the canyon walls, throwing up light, that he understood what was happening.

"Holograms," Mike explained. "Those machines create a nearly perfect hologram. Not only that, but my scope is detecting a wave of cold being emitted from them. They're masking themselves on visual _and_ infared."

"So what now?" Scott asked, looking down nervously.

Mike sighed an stood up. He began to walk back the way they had come, Scott behind him. As he walked away, Scott saw him pull out a secure communicator, much safer than their personal comms.

Mike clicked on the device. "Delta-Four-Foxtrot, this is Eagle-Eye. Wait till you hear this..."

**And, voila! A new adventure starts! For those of you who liked this chapter, don't worry, Mike and Scott will appear occasionally from time to time. I'll try to upload another chapter before school starts. Read and review!**

**DISCLAIMER: Sonic and all other UNORIGINAL characters, locations, etc. DO NOT belong to me. They are property of SEGA.**

**NOTE: All ORIGINAL** **characters, locations, plot concepts belong to ME and are Copyright 2014.**


	2. Tails Wonders

**And here we are again! I know that the three random people who actually like these stories are probably aching to see our main characters in action, but not yet. First, let's take a look into Tails and his troubles... -MH**

In the busy metropolis of Luxia City, there was hardly ever a moment of quiet. Whether it was the busy traffic, the bird-songs in the air, or people's everyday conversations, there always was some type of ambient noise.

The one exception was the city's National Library, located near the downtown area. Here, the walls seemed to absorb all noise. Leaving it's occupants with a peaceful quiet.

On this particular early morning, it wasn't simply that the library had an absence of noise. It was that there seemed to be a complete, dead silence in the building. The librarian had left for a cup of coffee, leaving the library in near emptiness. Near.

For it was in the back of the library, in one of it's most important rooms whose doors were shut that a certain twin-tailed fox rested against his chair for a moment, taking a deep breath. He hadn't been able to sleep for days, an unexpected side effect of scientific curiosity.

It was said curiosity that had brought Tails here. Ever since the incident at Ratzu Cave, he had faced countless thoughts and questions which kept him awake. He had begun to come to the library, one of his favorite places, to search for answers. Frustration had overcome him today, though, resulting in this early morning visit.

He sighed as he looked around him. Numerous shelves lined neatly with countless books, all dating back to thousands of years ago. He had hoped that there would be some type of explanation for the phenomenon in these books, but no luck so far. He leaned forward and scanned the nearby pile he had randomly pulled down from the shelves. None seemed very promising, but at the bottom of the pile, one particular book caught his eye. It's title read _"Forerunner, Fantasy, and Fame: A Collection of Myths, Fairy Tales, and Legends."_

"Hm..." Tails said, picking up the book. He began to flip through the pages.

He came to the first section, a series of myths. Some were pretty interesting. There was one that told of a giant who had fought another giant, who had trapped the first one in an enormous pit, then buried it there. According to the myth, the trapped giant had tries to escape by punching the planet's surface above it. Supposedly, said punches had dented the surface, thus creating the mountain world of Rydga.

"Fascinating," Tails awed. He had thus far mostly searched for knowledge and insight only in scientific books, and historical records. These stories, however, contained a different type of knowledge, one that wasn't simply learned. It was a knowledge that had to be _felt._

Tails flipped through the section on fairy tales, which was mostly kids' stuff. When he came to the section on legends, though, he paused. Slowly, he flipped the page. The first legend was something about a talking mountain and the clouds. Some of the legends actually sounded realistic, or at least partially. He read on and on until he came to the very last legend.

Tails gasped when he read the legend's title. He began to read it carefully. As he went on though, his eyes became wild, his flipping frantic. He stood up suddenly, and flew off in desperate search for his techpad, leaving the book open to the first page of the last legend. It's title read: "_The Elemental Emeralds."_

**I think this may be the shortest chapter I have written thus far. I want to get to the fun part as much as the next guy, but I thought it would be fun to include a chapter featuring our favorite twin-tailed fox! It's time for some answers! -MH**

**DISCLAIMER: Sonic and all other UNORIGINAL characters, locations, etc. DO NOT belong to me. They are property of SEGA.**

**NOTE: All ORIGINAL** **characters, locations, plot concepts belong to ME and are Copyright 2014.**


	3. The Legend

**Here we go again! Another chapter, delivered with the usual lateness, for the 2 loyal followers I have :/ . No matter though. Anyway, we finally have another chapter that features our main heroes! This chapter may be long, it may not, it all depends, cause the legend is moderately sized.**

**Catch y'all later! -MH**

" So, does somebody want to remind me why we're here?" Luke asked.

Sonic shrugged. He wasn't quite sure why himself. All he knew was that he had received a call from Tails, telling them to all gather here, at what he was now referring to as their "team headquarters". Said HQ was actually the conference room in the manor.

"All I know is that Tails told us to meet here. He called it 'urgent'," Sonic explained. Indeed, Tails had been frantic during the call, clearly excited and worried.

As they were contemplating this, Tails came in bursting through the door.

"Guys!" he cried out. He was panting like crazy, a desperate look in him.

"Hey, hey, take it easy little bro," Sonic said, trying to calm him.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"I finally found it!" Tails exclaimed.

"Found what?" Karyn wondered.

"The legend!" Tails said excitedly.

"Legend?" They wondered.

"Tails," Sonic told him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "calm down, buddy. Take a deep breath, and explain."

Tails stopped, inhaled deeply, and exhaled.

"Alright. Let me explain."

He took out a small device, hooked it up via cables to the large screen on the wall, and a display that looked like ancient parchment with words written appeared. Along with the words, which were written in a strange language, were several beautiful manuscripts and pictures. Tails began to speak.

"The legend of the Elemental Emeralds..." Tails began.

"A long time ago, the universe existed nearly void. Seven supreme beings lived in different areas of it, secluded and gifted with amazing powers. Each possessed ultimate control over an element. Eventually, these seven beings put aside their differences, gathered, and combined their powers. These seven elements, earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, and darkness, when combined, bred life.

The Creators constructed planets with their powers, and it was here that life developed. As intelligent creatures began to gather in cultures and communities, the Creators realized that said people and creatures would need leadership. So, the Seven formed a union, which they gathered in to discuss and fix problems.

However, with the good effects of their union and their creation of life also came an evil. A darkness that began to envelop their hearts. Slowly, this evil and greed consumed them, made them lust for power. Eventually, they began to turn on each other. This inner fighting spread, and grew until it erupted into a terrible war. The Creators commanded their followers into battle, unleashing their unique powers. This clash of power ravaged the land with horrible destruction and countless deaths in its wake. The Creators were out of control, their hearts cold as stone.

Just when all seemed lost, a new hope arose out of the darkness. One powerful being, known as Heeroe, rose up, rallied the people, and confronted the Seven Creators. Using his own special power, he defeated all seven. He knew that the Creators couldn't be killed though, so he instead imprisoned their spirits and their elemental powers in seven emeralds, hiding them all around the planets. He then gathered the remaining people, and, with his power, life and peace returned to the planets."

They all stood in silence. Eventually, Luke spoke up.

"Um... hold on, before you go on, I still don't understand. What are those things that attacked us?"

"I'm getting to that," Tails explained. "You see, the legend was in a library book. It was also in those glyphs on the walls of the cave. However, with a fair amount of translation books, I found that the glyphs also revealed other things not in the book."

"What?" Knuckles wanted to know.

"Well, you see..."

"The original evil that infected the Creators' hearts grew and spread. At one point, this evil seeped and began to take a solid, dark, misty form. This dark mist began to amass and take shape, until the day, when it became a being of pure evil, who took the form of a hedgehog. This being came to be known as _Darkus._

Darkus sought nothing but evil and darkness. He began to influence the Creators' minds, making them increasingly greedy and malevolent, which in turn strengthened him.

Darkus, though, did not expect Heeroe's rise. He sought to use the war as a means of destruction. So, he was shocked when Heeroe defeated the Seven Creators and saved life. In doing so, Heeroe deprived Darkus of his biggest power source. He was left weak.

He refused to give up, though, so Darkus gathered his remaining power and confronted Heeroe in an enormous battle of good versus evil. This clash of forces resulted in a draw, leaving Darkus all but defeated and Heeroe extremely weak. Heeroe eventually recovered, gathered the survivors, and led them to prosperity. Peace returned.

Darkus was not gone, however, and it is said that one day he would return. To counter this, it is also said that a new group of saviors would be born, possessing the ability to wield the elemental powers. Along with them, one ultimate hero, blessed with the power of good, would arise.

Darkus did not act alone, though. During the war, he set to collect the dead bodies and corpses of those who died during the fighting. He used his dark powers to bring the fallen back to life, into mutated, horrifying bodies. He equipped them with armor and weapons, and manipulated them into his private army, the _Hyperoids_."

Again, there was a tense silence as Tails finished the story.

"I...I...," Sonic said, at a loss for words.

"Darkus..." Luke said, repeating the word, "He's the one who attacked us in the cave? And those tall creatures?"

"Yes," Tails answered. "As for those tall creatures, they're part of the Hyperoids. You see, they come in different species."

He entered a command into the console, and the screen changed to show a hand-drawing, as old as the text.

"Hey, that's-!" Karyn began.

"Yes," Tails confirmed. "That's one of the smaller, wolfish creatures that attacked us." The screen whited out, and a series of glyphs appeared. The glyphs became blurred, and a new word appeared.

"They are known as the _Predatorius." _The word once more blurred until a modern, understandable word appeared.

"The _Predators_."

A new picture appeared. It was a different creature, made of the same armor as the others, but notably skinnier and sleeker. At it's head, or rather helmet, there was a trio of metal feathers, sticking out the top in a trident shape. Not only due to the fact it was armored, but also due to something in the creature's bright, glowing eye, something in it's look gave off a threatening, up-to-no-good vibe.

"The _Custodis," _Tails told them as the translation process repeated. "...or, the _Watchmen_."

Another drawing appeared, a similarly equipped, but smaller, flying entity.

"The _Dregs_, or _ Sentinels_."

"Another unknown creature, which I'm yet to find a drawing of. They're known as the _Interfectum_, the _Slayers_."

Finally, there appeared a drawing of one of the tall creatures appeared. It featured the creature standing atop a rock, it's blade arm pointed triumphantly in the air, the other species of Hyperoids rallying around it.

"They are called the _Altus_, or _Nobles_."

Luke sighed. "Well, at least now we know what we're up against."

Kunckles, however, was not as easily convinced. "You're sure this is true? I mean, the whole thing seems a little...far-fetched."

"No, I can't be certain," Tails shook his head. "...but how else can we explain what happened?"

"Tails is right," Sonic told them. "It makes sense, unrealistically or not. And besides, do we really want to run the risk? If we ignore it, yet it turns out to be true, can you imagine the consequences?"

He didn't have to finish the thought. They knew what he meant. Destruction. Another catastrophic war, one that would be impossible to win.

"So what now?" Luke asked.

Right at the moment, Tails received a call. He answered the phone, and began to talk to the caller. His expression grew puzzled, until he finally hung up.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked.

"I just got a call from the Vice Admiral," Tails explained.

"The Admiral? What's going on?" Sonic wondered.

"Not sure. He said to meet him at the Officers' Center. Something's happening."

**Hmm...perhaps not as long as I wanted it to be. You know, by my calculations of how long the series might be...I'm going to need to get serious. Meaning more updates for you! And the loss of my sanity! :). Luckily, I've already got the next few chapters ready to roll. Read and review! **

** -MH**

**DISCLAIMER: Sonic and all other UNORIGINAL characters, locations, etc. DO NOT belong to me. They are property of SEGA.**

**NOTE: All ORIGINAL** **characters, locations, plot concepts belong to ME and are Copyright 2014.**


	4. The Best Defense

**So, I'm not too sure about this chapter. I tried to really emphasize details and actions that would help you guys picture what's going on, but I dunno. As high as my hopes are, I still have relatively little experience. Guess I'm going to have to learn on the fly, huh? -MH**

Sonic and the others gathered at the main lobby of G.E.A.R's Officers' Center. The tall skyscraper in the middle of Luxia City wasn't actually the army's headquarters, but it served a similar purpose. They walked up to the guard at the security checkpoint.

"Pass, please," a female guard said without looking at them.

"Uh..." Sonic uttered, not having one.

"Let them in, miss. They're here on important business," a voice came from the side. They all turned to see a tall man with black hair slightly sticking out from under his white cap walking towards them. On his black uniform was the brass insignia of a Vice Admiral.

"Sir!" The guard saluted, looking unsure. "I wasn't aware that you had guests today."

"I bet you didn't. They're more than guests. Come this way, lads," the Vice Admiral directed them, swiping his card in the checkpoint, turning the overhead light green, signaling their permission. They went in.

The Vice Admiral directed them to an elevator made of glass. Once they were all in, the doors closed and the elevator shot up.

"Whoa..." Luke awed, admiring the view. The Vice Admiral cracked a slight smile.

The elevator came to a stop, and the group followed the Vice Admiral through a bright hallway with numerous doors. At the end was another checkpoint which, upon passing, led the group to a massive room. There were numerous computers and screens, with various officers working, talking, and sharing info. At the opposite side was a wall of windows, providing an overview of the city. Gazing into the city was a man with thin, silver hair covering his head. His white cap had the insignia of a golden planet surrounded by an olive branch.

"Admiral Androv, sir!" the Vice Admiral saluted. "I've brought them, as you requested."

The Admiral sighed, turning away from the window to face them.

"Very well, Vice Admiral Ford," the Admiral told him, pausing to survey the group. He frowned.

"Who are these two?"

The group turned, and saw him surveying Luke and Karyn.

"Oh," Sonic said, trying to explain, "that's Luke and Karyn. We're going to help them."

"With what?" the Admiral demanded.

"Well... that's kind of personal...," Sonic hesitated.

"My troops are prepping for a battle. I'm not going to let them get distracted by babysitting two hedgehogs," the Admiral snarled.

" 'Babysitting' ?!" Luke demanded, insulted.

"Sir, with all due respect, these two may hold the key to unlocking the legend," Tails told him, grabbing Luke's arm and showing the Admiral his sword.

"Uh..." Luke stuttered nervously.

On Luke's sword was something that the group had noticed slowly after escaping the cave. There, inscribed on Luke's sword, was something that hadn't been there before. The same symbol that had appeared in the entrance to, and inside, the strange room. A four-pointed star, surrounded by seven small circles with different symbols. Each was connected to it's neighbors, forming an overall ring.

The Admiral studied the symbol. "What legend?"

The Admiral sighed as Tails finished explaining what he had found out.

"Well, that answers some of our questions. We had been trying to find out where these damn things had been coming from. Wait 'till Intel finds out that we've just found out what they've been trying to find out for more than three months," he mused.

Sonic and the others figured that he was talking about the Hyperoids.

"Do you know where they're coming from? Or how to stop them?" the Admiral asked.

Tails shook his head. "No, sir. But I'm sure they can be stopped. We took down a few in the cave, and I'm sure the troops have killed at least a few."

"Hm...true." the Admiral commented. "Well, then I trust you will be able to decipher more."

The Admiral walked up to the command table in the middle of the room. He pressed a few buttons, and a 3D holographic view of the Luxian System appeared. The device zoomed in and focused specifically on one planet.

"Hey, that's..." Sonic began.

"I see you remember, Sonic. Cayona."

"The '_scarred desert' _planet?" Luke asked.

"Correct, hedgehog. We've long thought that the planet had been cleared of enemy forces. This, however_, _is not the case. A foot patrol recently discovered the existence of an enemy power plant, probably the work of this so-called Darkus."

The Admiral entered a few more commands, and the view on the display zoomed in to a specific section of the planet. A long canyon cut through the desert, leading to a large clearing.

"Originally, we didn't detect this due to infrared and holographic masking devices installed on the clearing. Our ground patrol followed the canyon, stopping when they detected a stray enemy ship. Upon further investigation, they located this enormous power facility."

Another couple of buttons, and a large, holographic power plant including dozens of solar panels appeared.

"We believe that they are using the power plant to fuel the production of more Stormers and maybe even these 'Hyperoids'."

"What's the plan of attack, sir?" Sonic asked.

"Well, there is a large array of anti-air weapons and even a shield generator. This makes an airstrike impossible. So, we are going to attack two different ways. We will send a blowthrough force through the main canyon, with some sniper support. Hopefully, they will be able to succeed. However, in the event that they don't, they will serve as a distraction for a _second_ team."

"Second, sir?" Luke asked. The Admiral typed in another command, and a separate tunnel appeared, linking a small, secondary clearing to the main generator facility.

"The facility has backup power stored, which runs through wires hidden in electrical pipes and into storage units. In this tunnel, the main pipe is concealed. During their recon, the pair discovered an exposed area of the pipe. On their way back, they sent a miniature, remote controlled drone into the pipe. This recon drone found the tunnel, and the entrance, hidden here, in a clearing a few klicks east, concealed by a false cave-in. We will send our second team in through this unguarded tunnel, which they will follow to the main objective. Once there, they will attempt to install explosives in the main generator room. If possible, they should also try to disable the anti-air network. All surviving forces will gather in the clearing with the exposed pipe, and await extraction. I need you two to assist our forces. Understood?"

"Which team do you want us to assist?" Tails wondered.

"Both. Coordinate and split up your group into teams as necessary. Help both squads. Got it?" the Admiral finished.

"Yes, sir," they all echoed.

"Good." The Admiral stopped to survey them. "I've heard much about you, Mr. Sonic. I may have not known about your two new friends, but I trust you all will be able to help us. Good luck."

**Whew, that one was a pain to dish out. I tried to do my best in the briefing scene, but I'm not too convinced. It could be worse, though, couldn't it? Right? _Right?_ -MH**

**DISCLAIMER: Sonic and all other UNORIGINAL characters, locations, etc. DO NOT belong to me. They are property of SEGA.**

**NOTE: All ORIGINAL** **characters, locations, plot concepts belong to ME and are Copyright 2014.**

**(Seriously, those two lines are getting old. I think I'll change it up a bit next time.)**


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